Zheng Nian sat back on the stool. He pulled his hair hard. The veins on the back of his hands were prominent, and he was obviously a bit excited.
The doctor in glasses stayed and asked Zheng Nian, “How do you feel?”
Zheng Nian lowered his head and said dully, “Not good.”
The doctor’s eyes narrowed.
It was only then that the audience realized… the ‘coffee’ props on the dining table had also been changed! They were replaced with two packets of soy milk!
No wonder why Zhao Wenlei had been able to pull out these things from underneath the table…
The doctor picked up Zheng Nian’s half-remaining bag of soy milk and asked, “Don’t you like sweet things the most?”
Zheng Nian said in a low voice, “I’m not in the mood to drink.”
The doctor glanced at his watch again. “You have been wearing this watch more and more often lately.”
Zheng Nian felt that something was wrong. He raised his head and asked, “…What exactly do you want to ask?”
The doctor looked at him and said, “Do you still have any symptoms of dizziness lately?”
Zheng Nian said, “…Yes, but I’ve had this problem before. You said that even if I am cured, my dizziness will still flare up.”
“Yes, but you should be able to tell whether it is a normal dizziness attack or a secondary personality.”
Zheng Nian hesitated.
The doctor said slowly, “You have no memory of your secondary personalities. The period when the secondary personality replaces the main personality is short-term amnesia for you.”
Zheng Nian’s face started to tense up. “You suspect that I haven’t been cured yet? My two secondary personalities have disappeared long ago!’
“Zheng Nian, I don’t want to judge your family’s affairs, but what your secondary personality did to your father means we must strictly examine your situation before releasing you from the hospital.”
“So I hope you can tell me truthfully. How have you been doing recently?”
There was silence at the table.
Zheng Nian said nothing. The doctor said, “You know, we will definitely ask Zhao Wenlei about what you talked about just now.”
Zheng Nian closed his eyes.
If they asked, his secondary personality would be revealed.
At this moment, Zheng Nian buried his head deeply. His posture had already answered this question on his behalf.
“…I still can’t believe it. ‘Nannan’ and ‘Ah Yang’ have disappeared a long time ago, haven’t they? You have tested it! But I still have occasional amnesia and it has become more and more frequent recently.”
“I don’t know which one of them has been left behind. I just want to be discharged from the hospital and go home…” Zheng Nian said while holding his forehead with his hand. “In addition, he seems to be more vigilant than before. It is hard for me to control him and call him out. But if I can’t call him out, it will be difficult for you to start treatment…”
The doctor looked at Zheng Nian.
The audience also started to use their brains to think. When did the secondary personality appear just now?
By the way, it was when Zheng Nian’s mother called.
Different movies and TV series would have different settings. In some movies about multiple personalities, the protagonist’s personality changed without any warning or reason.
But in this story, the ‘secondary personality must be called out before treatment could begin.’ This seemed to indicate that there was a certain opportunity for Zheng Nian’s personality transformation.
It was a pity that Zheng Nian obviously had an evasive personality and was unwilling to delve into these issues.
He knew that his illness was still there, but he tried to cover it up. It was just like how he hesitated at first and tried to cover up Zhao Wenlei’s mental relapse.
He pleaded, “Doctor Deng, this secondary personality has existed in my body for over a year and has never done anything to harm others. Can’t he—”
“No,” the doctor cut him off. “Whether the secondary personality is dangerous or not needs to be determined. Before that, we can’t let you leave the hospital casually.”
“Then again, the dean might’ve believed you only had two secondary personalities, but I never thought so.”
Zheng Nian was stunned.
The doctor sat down in Zhao Wenlei’s position just now.
“I recently went to learn more about your past and made some new discoveries. Your neighbor in high school had a son who was three years older than you. His name was Hao Pengyu. He was a very violent boy and you were afraid of him, right?”
“It is only now that I know the boy’s nickname is Ah Yang.”
“The family above you gave birth to a daughter who was ten years younger than you. She was very cute. The whole family regarded her as a baby, and her parents called her Nannan.”
“You used to always mention the names of three people. Among them, you were afraid of Ah Yang and liked Nannan.”
“But in fact, you envied Nannan for growing up with the love of her parents. You also hoped that you could be as powerful as Ah Yang to fight back against all those who bullied you, right? So your secondary personalities, Ah Yang and Nannan appeared. Ah Yang imprisoned your father to take revenge on him for you.”
Zhang Nian’s expression slowly calmed down.
The dark eyes stared at the doctor.
The audience in the studio all felt that creepy feeling again.”
Zheng Nian, he…”
“But some of the behaviors that occurred when your secondary personalities appeared can’t be explained. For example, Ah Yang and Nannan are both like you and have a sweet tooth, but your mother said that you occasionally hate sweets.”
The doctor threw the bag of soy milk on the table.
“For example, this watch is a gift from Ah Yang to Zheng Nian to make up for Zheng Nian’s unrealized childhood wish. Ah Yang himself won’t touch this watch. Nannan is a girl, and she would never wear a man’s watch. As for Zheng Nian, he likes this watch, but he is afraid of the existence of his secondary personalities. Thus, he only wears it once in a while. He takes it off quickly after wearing it.”
The doctor glanced at the steel watch on ‘Zheng Nian’s wrist.’
‘Zheng Nian’ gradually became expressionless.
His eyes were even a bit cold.
“So, who did these things? Not Ah Yang, not Nannan, and not Zheng Nian.” The doctor paused before continuing, “Zheng Nian always mentioned the names of three people. In addition to Hao Pengyu and the little girl upstairs, there is another name. It was the bachelor who lived downstairs from your apartment.”
“He was a lawyer. He was smart, calm, and good at dealing with various situations. His name was Jiang Ying.”
‘Zheng Nian’ leaned back in his chair.
He looked at the doctor and smiled playfully.
The audience took a deep breath—
Zheng Nian’s personality hadn’t returned at all!
It was this secondary personality that was acting just now!
On the big screen, the story seemed to be coming to an end.
The doctor looked directly at the young man in front of him and said, “Jiang Ying, you have been in Zheng Nian’s body since he became ill five years ago, haven’t you? You have been hiding it very well. Is it because you are too excited about being discharged from the hospital?”
Excessive excitement completely exposed this man.
‘Zheng Nian’ chuckled.
He didn’t deny it any longer. He said, “Zheng Nian needs me. You can’t kill me.”
“Nannan can die, and Ah Yang can die, but as long as Zheng Nian lives in this world, he still needs to face his mother, who witnessed what ‘Ah Yang’ did but kept silent and became an accomplice. He still needs to face his painful, twisted, and dark past. He will always need me to pretend to be ‘cured’ for him.”
Jiang Ying’s lips curled up. “No one can separate me from Zheng Nian.”
“Really.”
In the scene recorded by the camera, the two people were sitting opposite each other and looking at each other.
The atmosphere was tense.
In the end, the doctor pushed up his glasses and said, “…Let’s wait and see.”
—
The audience was all in a trance as the big screen rose…
Then—they all wailed!
The story actually ended here?!
They had also been looking forward to the follow-up. What about the follow-up? It was such a suspenseful follow-up!
Why did this variety show competition play have the feel of a TV series?
Where could they go to see the follow-up?!
Guan Ruoying took a deep breath. “Teacher Shen, I know that it is best to end this story here, but you must tell me that you will film the follow-up… right?”
Shen Tingyan said casually, “It will become vulgar if I keep filming.”
The audience collectively held their heads and screamed.
This devilish man satiated their appetite but did such a cold-blooded thing. It was too much!
Xue Xiao and Chang Yun walked out of the backstage area and stood still under the warm applause of the audience.
The moment the two of them finished acting, Xue Xiao was still a bit immersed in the state just now. Chang Yun was a bit nervous and didn’t know how well he had performed today.
He really tried his best…
At the mentor table, Shen Tingyan applauded.
He looked at the two of them, smiled, and said, “Well done.”
In an instant, Chang Yun’s eyes lit up. His excitement was beyond words.
Xue Xiao’s mind also returned.
He raised the corners of his lips and showed a big smile amidst the cheers of the audience.
—
The two plays, Vertigo and House of a Thousand Faces, were definitely the more unique of all performances today.
Both players were fast-paced, informative, and had many reversals. This made the audience addicted.
House of a Thousand Faces was more bizarre, while Vertigo was gloomy and dark.
Guan Ruoying was the first to common. She said, “Chang Yun, you sweated a lot during this performance, right?”
On the stage, Chang Yun scratched his head and smiled innocently.
At this time, he no longer had the pale look they had seen during the performance, but his forehead was still sweaty.
This was all real sweat!
A good actor could cry on this type of live stage, but could they sweat when necessary?
It was hard!
This required thorough integration into the play and sufficient concentration. It was very difficult.
Not only did Chang Yun do it, but he also kept the audience nervous and uneasy throughout the second half.
Guan Ruoying sighed. “I didn’t even think you were acting just now. I was a bit skeptical that you were really sick!”
The audience burst out laughing.
Su Shijin joked, “You wanted to call 120 for him, right?”
Guan Ruoying nodded hurriedly. “Yes yes. Even if he was really acting, I am a bit worried about his mental state after acting!”
The words ‘even if he was really acting’ made the audience laugh completely.
Chang Yun answered, “During the days when we were rehearsing, Teacher Shen would laugh and talk to us every day because he was afraid we would have mental problems. But the two of us are really good. Don’t worry!”
Su Shijin looked at the calm man beside her and joked, “I can’t tell. Is Teacher Shen so careful?”
Guan Ruoying added, “How can he make a good movie if he is careless?”
Su Shijin agreed. “That is true.”
Forget paying attention to the mental health of the actors. A careless director who couldn’t even do the most basic thing would only harm the actors when appearing on this type of stage.
Shen Tingyan seemed to be a cold man, but there was no conflict between being cold and careful. If he wasn’t careful, he wouldn’t have been able to climb to the heights he had today and become ‘Shen Tingyan.’
Before Guan Ruoying commented on Xue Xiao again, she first asked a question curiously. “Xiao Xiao, did Zheng Nian really want to hide Zhao Wenlei’s illness for him at the beginning?”
Xue Xiao immediately replied, “It is true. He noticed that Zhao Wenlei’s condition had relapsed at the beginning. He was always struggling over whether to win the bell and call the medical staff over. He didn’t realize the seriousness of the problem at the time because Zhao Wenlei never mentioned to him what happened before he entered the mental hospital.”
The length of the story that could be shown in the show was too limited. Such a play with a complex setting was bound to have a more complete story premise.
Speaking of this, Xue Xiao looked at Shen Tingyan with questioning eyes. He wondered if Shen Tingyan, as the director, should tell this part himself.
The latter sat lazily, not intending to interrupt at all. He completely handed over the situation to Xue Xiao.
Xue Xiao obediently continued, “The two of them have indeed not seen each other since high school. Zhao Wenlei didn’t know that Zheng Nian’s secondary personality imprisoned his father and tortured him. Zheng Nian didn’t know that Zhao Wenlei had hallucinations and almost killed his parents.”
“After the two of them met again in the mental hospital, Zheng Nian only knew that Zhao Wenlei had schizophrenia. It wasn’t until Zhao Wenlei actually had hallucinations in front of him that Zheng Nian started to feel scared and decided to ring the bell.”
But at that moment, the call from Zheng Nian’s mother came. Zheng Nian’s secondary personality instantly replaced the main personality.
The secondary personality called Jiang Ying was obviously a very dangerous personality.
He was good at disguise and liked exciting games. Thus, he instigated Zhao Wenlei and instigated him to commit crimes.
However, he soon discovered that Zhao Wenlei had ‘made a mistake.’ This mistake would definitely be discovered, and Zhao Wenlei was hopeless. This was why he chose to ring the bell, so he could at least pretend that he was abiding by the rules.
Of course, this was ultimately useless.
If the excitement of being discharged from the hospital hadn’t overwhelmed Jiang Ying’s mind, he would’ve pretended better than Zheng Nian.
Guan Ruoying got her answer and was satisfied. “It is really beautiful. To be honest, until now, I have viewed most of the players from the perspective of a judge. But for this play just now, I really fell into the plot like an ordinary audience member.”
“Xiao Xiao, I even feel that I am no longer qualified to judge you. We are still on the show, and you haven’t had time to film a serious movie yet. If you really go and film it, it is only a matter of time before you win an award!”
The audience was in an uproar.
This evaluation was really too high.
In every round of the competition, Guan Ruoying’s evaluation of Xue Xiao always soared into the sky!
However, Feng Wei and Su Shijin didn’t disagree with Guan Ruoying’s evaluation at all, let alone Shen Tingyan.
They all agreed with Guan Ruoying’s statement. This was also their affirmation of Xue Xiao.
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Thanks for the update
Wow. Really well-written. I still haven’t come out of the play despite it being such a simple concept. The characters are truly fleshed out.